1. I’m not sure if that is technically the case – at least it doesn’t necessarily have to be. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a total one-sided beatdown that doesn’t get a finish get a POTN bonus. At least by definition the possibility exists.
2. You could basically say the exact same thing about the KOTN or SOTN.
3. You say this, but I see Yancy Medeiros, Thales Leites, Dennis Bermudez, Ray Borg, Piotr Hallmann, Godofredo Pepey, Gunnar Nelson and Charles Oliveira on this list.

1. Performance of the night is just another name for KO and submission of the night bonuses so I don’t think there is a reason to seperate the two statistics.
2. Performance of the night is only relative to other performances of that night, so fighters who are fortunate to fight on weak events (performance wise) will have better chances of accumulating them. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are the most impressive
3. The UFC tend to award these to the more famous fighters and to fights in the main card and less to those on the prelims, so, again, this means that highly ranked and recognised fighters will have better chances of receiving them, and not necessarily because they are the most exciting or impressive.